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Background and purpose: It is unknown the neural mechanisms of developmental stuttering (DS). The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the structural morphology of the brain in Chinese children who stutter. Methods: A case–control study was conducted to collect magnetic resonance imaging data from stuttering and non-stuttering children, thereby analyzing whole-brain gray matter volume and cortical morphological changes in stuttering children. Results: A total of 108 subjects were recruited (stuttering group: control group = 1:1). Comparing to healthy controls, the gray matter volume was significantly decreased in right temporal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum. Additionally, there was a significant reduction in cortical folds in the right insula and right superior temporal gyrus. Moreover, the gray matter volume of the right cerebellum and right temporal gyrus is related to the severity score of stuttering. Conclusion: The present study proposes that the neural mechanisms underlying DS are intricately linked to the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop and the dorsal language pathway. This finding is expected to provide reference value for the clinical treatment of DS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is associated with progressive brain atrophy and declines in learning and memory, often attributed to hippocampal or cortical deterioration. The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in modulating the structural and functional changes in the brain and visual system, particularly in relation to BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, remains underexplored. In this present cross-sectional observational study, we aimed to assess the effects of BDNF polymorphism on brain structural integrity, cognitive function, and visual pathway alterations. A total of 108 older individuals with no evidence of dementia and a mean (SD) age of 67.3 (9.1) years were recruited from the Optic Nerve Decline and Cognitive Change (ONDCC) study cohort. The BDNF Met allele carriage had a significant association with lower entorhinal cortex volume (6.7% lower compared to the Val/Val genotype, P = 0.02) and posterior cingulate volume (3.2% lower than the Val/Val group, P = 0.03), after adjusting for confounding factors including age, sex and estimated total intracranial volumes (eTIV). No significant associations were identified between the BDNF Val66Met genotype and other brain volumetric or diffusion measures, cognitive performances, or vision parameters except for temporal retinal nerve fibre layer thickness. Small but significant correlations were found between visual structural and functional, cognitive, and brain morphological metrics. Our findings suggest that carriage of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is associated with lower entorhinal cortex and posterior cingulate volumes and may be involved in modulating the cortical morphology along the aging process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purposeIt is unknown the neural mechanisms of developmental stuttering (DS). The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the structural morphology of the brain in Chinese children who stutter.MethodsA case–control study was conducted to collect magnetic resonance imaging data from stuttering and non-stuttering children, thereby analyzing whole-brain gray matter volume and cortical morphological changes in stuttering children.ResultsA total of 108 subjects were recruited (stuttering group: control group = 1:1). Comparing to healthy controls, the gray matter volume was significantly decreased in right temporal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum. Additionally, there was a significant reduction in cortical folds in the right insula and right superior temporal gyrus. Moreover, the gray matter volume of the right cerebellum and right temporal gyrus is related to the severity score of stuttering.ConclusionThe present study proposes that the neural mechanisms underlying DS are intricately linked to the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop and the dorsal language pathway. This finding is expected to provide reference value for the clinical treatment of DS.

A mounting body of evidences suggests that patients with chronic heart failure (HF) frequently experience cognitive impairments, but the neuroanatomical mechanism underlying these impairments remains elusive. In this retrospective study, 49 chronic HF patients and 49 healthy controls (HCs) underwent brain structural MRI scans and cognitive assessments. Cortical morphology index (cortical thickness, complexity, sulcal depth and gyrification) were evaluated. Correlations between cortical morphology and cognitive scores and clinical variables were explored. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors for predicting 3‐year major adverse cardiovascular events. Compared with HCs, patients with chronic HF exhibited decreased cognitive scores (p <.001) and decreased cortical thickness, sulcal depth and gyrification in brain regions involved cognition, sensorimotor, autonomic nervous system (family‐wise error correction, all p values <.05). Notably, HF duration and New York Heart Association (NYHA) demonstrated negative correlations with abnormal cortex morphology, particularly HF duration and thickness in left precentral gyrus (r = −.387, p =.006). Cortical morphology characteristics exhibited positive associations with global cognition, particularly cortical thickness in left pars opercularis (r =.476, p <.001). NYHA class is an independent risk factor for adverse outcome (p =.001). The observed correlation between abnormal cortical morphology and global cognition suggested that cortical morphology may serve as a promising imaging biomarker and provide insights into neuroanatomical underpinnings of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of cortical morphology in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and those with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) from both categorical and dimensional analyses. Methods: A total of 72 children were enrolled, including 16 children with ADHD and ODD, 20 children with ADHD without ODD, and 36 age-gender-matched normal children. The diagnoses were made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria. The Chinese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC) was used to access intelligence quotient. All subjects participated in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The features of cortical morphology were determined using FreeSurfer software. Results: Children with ADHD and ODD[ (6 528.1±857.5) mm³ vs. (7 591.2±657.3) mm³] and children with ADHD only[ (6 867.2±841.3) mm³ vs. (7 591.2±657.3) mm³] had smaller volume in the left lateral superior temporal gyrus (P ＜0.05) than controls. No difference was found between ADHD with ODD group and ADHD without ODD group. There was no correlation between the cortical volume of left lateral superior temporal gyrus and ODD symptoms. Conclusion: The reduced cortical volume of left lateral superior temporal gyrus may be an important indication of the abnormal brain structure of ADHD in children. And comorbid status of ODD dose not change this structural variation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive performance in children is predictive of academic and social outcomes; therefore, understanding neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in cognition during development may be important for improving quality of life. The belief that a single, psychological construct underlies many cognitive processes is pervasive throughout society. However, it is unclear if there is a consistent neural substrate underlying many cognitive processes. Here, we show that a distributed configuration of cortical surface area and apparent thickness, when controlling for global imaging measures, is differentially associated with cognitive performance on different types of tasks in a large sample (N = 10 145) of 9-11-year-old children from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD) study. The minimal overlap in these regionalization patterns of association has implications for competing theories about developing intellectual functions. Surprisingly, not controlling for sociodemographic factors increased the similarity between these regionalization patterns. This highlights the importance of understanding the shared variance between sociodemographic factors, cognition and brain structure, particularly with a population-based sample such as ABCD.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE), which can be separated into abuse and neglect, contribute to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, which brain structures are mainly affected by ACE as well as the mediating role these brain structures play in ACE and PTSS relationship are still being investigated. The current study tested the effect of ACE on brain structure and investigated the latter's mediating role in ACE-PTSS relationship. Methods: A total of 78 adults with self-reported ACE were included in this study. Participants completed the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) and a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) to ascertain ACE history and PTSS, respectively. T1w images and diffusion MRI scans were then acquired to assess cortical morphometry and white matter (WM) integrity in fibre tracts connecting key areas where ACE-related cortical volume alterations were observed. Results: The combined effect of ACE was negatively associated with total grey matter volume and local cortical area in the right superior parietal region (rSP). Childhood abuse was negatively related to right superior parietal volume after controlling for neglect and overall psychological burden. The right superior parietal volume significantly mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and avoidance-related PTSS. Post-hoc analyses showed that the indirect relation was subsequently moderated by dissociative symptoms. Lastly, a complementary examination of the WM tracts connected to abuse-associated cortical GM regions shows that abuse was negatively related to the normalised fibre density of WM tracts connected to the right superior parietal region. Conclusion: We provide multimodal structural evidence that ACE in the first years of life is related to alterations in the right superior brain region, which plays a crucial role in spatial processing and attentional functioning. Additionally, we highlight that the cortical volume alteration in this region may play a role in explaining the relationship between childhood abuse and avoidance symptoms.

s: Previous studies have reported that patients with sleep disorders have altered brain cortical structures. However, the causality has not been determined. We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to reveal the causal effect of sleep disorders on brain cortical structure. We included as exposures 11 phenotypes of sleep disorders including subjective and objective sleep duration, insomnia symptom and poor sleep efficiency, daytime sleepiness (narcolepsy)/napping, morning/evening preference, and four sleep breathing related traits from nine European-descent genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Further, outcome variables were provided by ENIGMA Consortium GWAS for full brain and 34 region-specific cortical thickness (TH) and surface area (SA) of grey matter. Inverse-variance weighted (IVW) was used as the primary estimate whereas alternative MR methods were implemented as sensitivity analysis approaches to ensure results robustness. At the global level, both self-reported or accelerometer-measured shorter sleep duration decreases the thickness of full brain both derived from self-reported data (β IVW = 0.03 mm, standard error (SE) = 0.02, P = 0.038; β IVW = 0.02 mm, SE = 0.01, P = 0.010). At the functional level, there were 66 associations of suggestive evidence of causality. Notably, one robust evidence after multiple testing correction (1518 tests) suggests the without global weighted SA of superior parietal lobule was influenced significantly by sleep efficiency (β IVW = −285.28 mm2, SE = 68.59, P = 3.2 × 10−5). We found significant evidence that shorter sleep duration, as estimated by self-reported interview and accelerometer measurements, was causally associated with atrophy in the entire human brain. • This is the first comprehensive MR examining sleep disorders and cortical structural causation. • The intimate and causal relationships support a notion of sleep-brain network. • Sleep disorder patients may benefit from targeted therapy based on brain MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been studied as an adjunctive treatment option for substance use disorders (SUDs). Alterations in brain structure following SUD may change tDCS-induced electric field (EF) and subsequent responses; however, group- level differences between healthy controls (HC) and participants with SUDs in terms of EF and its association with cortical architecture have not yet been modeled quantitatively. This study provides a methodology for group-level analysis of computational head models to investigate the influence of cortical morphology metrics on EFs. Methods: Whole-brain surface-based morphology was conducted, and cortical thickness, volume, and surface area were compared between participants with cannabis use disorders (CUD) (n=20) and age-matched HC (n=22). Meanwhile, EFs were simulated for bilateral tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The effects of structural alterations on EF distribution were investigated based on individualized computational head models. Results: Regarding EF, no significant difference was found within the prefrontal cortex; however, EFs were significantly different in left-postcentral and right-superior temporal gyrus (P<0.05) with higher levels of variance in CUD compared to HC [F(39, 43) =5.31, P<0.0001, C=0.95]. Significant differences were observed in cortical area (caudal anterior cingulate and rostral middle frontal), thickness (lateral orbitofrontal), and volume (paracentral and fusiform) between the two groups. Conclusion: Brain morphology and tDCS-induced EFs may be changed following CUD; however, differences between CUD and HCs in EFs do not always overlap with brain areas that show structural alterations. To sufficiently modulate stimulation targets, whether individuals with CUD need different stimulation doses based on tDCS target location should be checked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To establish a model for predicting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) using morphological features extracted from a joint analysis of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surface-based morphometry (SBM). Methods: We analyzed data from 121 MCI patients from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, 32 of whom progressed to AD during a 4-year follow-up period and were classified as the progression group, while the remaining 89 were classified as the non-progression group. Patients were divided into a training set (n = 84) and a testing set (n = 37). Morphological features measured by VBM and SBM were extracted from the cortex of the training set and dimensionally reduced to construct morphological biomarkers using machine learning methods, which were combined with clinical data to build a multimodal combinatorial model. The model's performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves on the testing set. Results: The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) score, apolipoprotein E (APOE4), and morphological biomarkers were independent predictors of MCI progression to AD. The combinatorial model based on the independent predictors had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.866 in the training set and 0.828 in the testing set, with sensitivities of 0.773 and 0.900 and specificities of 0.903 and 0.747, respectively. The number of MCI patients classified as high-risk for progression to AD was significantly different from those classified as low-risk in the training set, testing set, and entire dataset, according to the combinatorial model (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The combinatorial model based on cortical morphological features can identify high-risk MCI patients likely to progress to AD, potentially providing an effective tool for clinical screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ting Zhang,1– 3,&ast; Xiaohui Xie,2– 4,&ast; Qianqian Li,1– 3,&ast; Lei Zhang,2,3,5,6 Yue Chen,2,4 Gong-Jun Ji,2,3,5 Qiangqiang Hou,2– 4 Tianxia Li,7 Chunyan Zhu,2,3,5,6 Yanghua Tian,4,8,9 Kai Wang2– 5,9 1Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 5School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Psychiatry, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 7Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 9Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Chunyan Zhu; Yanghua Tian, Email ayswallow@126.com; ayfytyh@126.comPurpose: Insomnia is a recognized feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The underlying neural substrate of insomnia in GAD is still unclear. Cortical folding is a reliable index and possibly an endophenotype of psychiatric disease. The aim of this study was to explore whether the aberrant cortical morphology was associated with insomnia in GAD.Patients and Methods: We enrolled 73 patients with GAD and 74 matched healthy controls (HCs) to undergo neuropsychiatric assessment and 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Neuropsychiatric batteries included the 14-item Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Using FreeSurfer7.1.1, we calculated local gyrification index, cortical thickness and surface area and identified group differences in these parameters. Then, we calculated the functional connectivity of these identified regions and determined functional alterations. The relationship between these neuroimaging indicators and clinical measurement was explored.Results: Compared with HCs, the LGI in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), bilateral insula, left middle frontal gyrus, left temporal pole, and left fusiform area was significantly decreased in GAD. GAD patients had concurrent decreased surface area in the left OFC and thicker right OFC. GAD patients also exhibited increased functional connectivity between the left insula and frontoparietal control network. In addition, a negative relationship was observed between decreased LGI in these limbic regions and ISI score.Conclusion: GAD patients presented aberrant cortical folding in limbic network. Cortical morphology is a potential endophenotype in GAD, corresponding to an insomnia phenotype.Keywords: generalized anxiety disorder, cortical morphology, insomnia, limbic network, frontoparietal control network

The fetal brains experience rapid and complex development in utero during the second and third trimesters. In utero MRI of the fetal brain in this period enables us to quantify normal fetal brain development in the spatiotemporal domain. In this study, we established a high-quality spatiotemporal atlas between 23 and 38 weeks gestational age (GA) from 90 healthy Chinese human fetuses of both sexes using a pairwise and groupwise registration pipeline. We quantified the fetal cortical morphology indices and characterized their spatiotemporal developmental pattern. The cortical thickness exhibited a biphasic pattern that first increased and then decreased; the curvature fitted well into the Gompertz growth model; sulcal depth increased linearly, while surface area expanded exponentially. The cortical thickness and curvature trajectories consistently pointed to a characteristic time point around GA of 31 weeks. The characteristic GA and growth rate obtained from individual cortical regions suggested a central-to-peripheral developmental gradient, with the earliest development in the parietal lobe, and we also observed a superior-to-inferior gradient within the temporal lobe. These findings may be linked to biophysical events, such as dendritic arborization and thalamocortical fibers ingrowth. The proposed atlas was also compared with an existing fetal atlas from a white/mixed population. Finally, we examined the structural asymmetry of the fetal brains and found extensive asymmetry that dynamically changed with development. The current study depicted a comprehensive profile of fetal cortical development, and the established atlas could be used as a normative reference for neurodevelopmental and diagnostic purposes, especially in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that chemotherapy may have a significant impact on the brains of breast cancer patients, causing changes in cortical morphology. However, early morphological alterations induced by chemotherapy in breast cancer patients are unclear. To investigate the patterns of those alterations, we compared female breast cancer patients (n = 45) longitudinally before (time point 0, TP0) and after (time point 1, TP1) the first cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, using voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and surface‐based morphometry (SBM). VBM and SBM alteration data underwent correlation analysis. We also compared cognition‐related neuropsychological tests in the breast cancer patients between TP0 and TP1. Reductions in gray matter volume, cortical thickness, sulcal depth, and gyrification index were found in most brain areas, while increments were found to be mainly concentrated in and around the hippocampus. Reductions of fractal dimension mainly occurred in the limbic and occipital lobes, while increments mainly occurred in the anterior and posterior central gyrus. Significant correlations were found between altered VBM and altered SBM mainly in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus. We found no significant differences in the cognition‐related neuropsychological tests before and after chemotherapy. The altered brain regions are in line with those associated with impaired cognitive domains in previous studies. We conclude that breast cancer patients showed widespread morphological alterations soon after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, despite an absence of cognitive impairments. The affected brain regions may indicate major targets of early brain damage after chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate cortical differences, age-related cortical differences, and structural covariance differences between children with intermittent exotropia (IXT) and healthy controls (HCs) using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Sixteen IXT patients and 16 HCs underwent MRI using a 3-T MR scanner. FreeSurfer software was used to obtain measures of cortical volume, thickness, and surface area. Group differences in cortical thickness, volume and surface area were examined using a general linear model with intracranial volume (ICV), age and sex as covariates. Then, the age-related cortical differences between the two groups and structural covariance in abnormal morphometric changes were examined. Results: Compared to HCs, IXT patients demonstrated significantly decreased surface area in the left primary visual cortex (PVC), and increased surface area in the left inferior temporal cortex (ITC). We also found increased cortical thickness in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), right middle temporal cortex (MT), and right inferior frontal cortex (IFC). No significant differences were found in cortical volume between the two groups. There were several negative correlations between neuroanatomic measurements and age in the HC group that were not observed in the IXT group. In addition, we identified altered patterns of structural correlations across brain regions in patients with IXT. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first to characterize the cortical morphometry of the children and adolescents with IXT. Based on our results, children and adolescents with IXT exhibited significant alterations in the PVC and association cortices, different cortical morphometric development patterns, and disrupted structural covariance across brain regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Corticosteroid treatment is associated with variations in subcortical volumes. • Genotype and corticosteroid treatment are distinctively associated with variations in cortical morphology. • Corticosteroid treatment may have an association with differences in neuropsychological functioning. This study investigated if structural variation in specific gray matter areas is associated with corticosteroid treatment or genotype, and if cerebral morphological variations are related to neuropsychological and behavioral outcomes. The CAT12 toolbox in SPM was used for MRI segmentations, assessing subcortical structures, cortical thickness, gyrification, and sulci depths for DMD patients (n = 40; 9–18 years) and age-matched controls (n = 40). Comparisons were made between DMD vs. controls, daily vs. intermittent corticosteroid treatment (n = 20 each), and Dp140+ vs. Dp140- gene mutations (n = 15 vs. 25). MANCOVA, CAT12 3D statistics and Pearson correlations were conducted. DMD patients showed differences in volumes of distinct subcortical structures, left hemisphere cortical thickness, and gyrification in multiple brain areas compared with healthy controls. The daily treated DMD group exhibited differences in subcortical volumes and different patterns of cortical thickness, sulci depth, and gyrification compared to the intermittent treated DMD group. DMD Dp140+ patients displayed altered gyrification and sulci depth compared to DMD Dp140- patients. Finally, we found correlations between neurobehavioral outcomes and brain areas that showed differences in cortical morphology associated with corticosteroid treatment. Both genotype and corticosteroid treatment are associated with variations in subcortical volumes and cortical morphology, albeit in different ways. Corticosteroid treatment appears to have a more profound association with differences in gray matter characteristics of brain regions that are associated with functional outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the prevalence of gait disturbance is increasing with population aging, our understanding of its underlying neural basis is still limited. The precise brain regions linked to specific gait domains have not been well defined. In this study, we aim to investigate the associations of cortical thickness and different gait domains, and to explore whether these associations could be explained by cerebral small vessel disease. Methods: A total of 707 community‐dwelling participants from the Taizhou Imaging Study (mean age: 60.2 ± 3.0 years, 57.4% female) were involved. All participants underwent brain MRI and gait assessment. We obtained quantitative gait parameters using wearable devices and then summarized them into three independent gait domains through factor analysis. Cortical thickness was analyzed and visualized using FreeSurfer and Surfstat. Results: Three independent domains (pace, rhythm, and variability) were summarized from 12 gait parameters. Among gait domains, poorer pace was associated with the thinner cortical thickness of multiple regions, which included areas related with motor function (e.g., the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, and supplementary motor area), sensory function (e.g., the postcentral gyrus and paracentral lobule), visuospatial attention (e.g., the lateral occipital cortex and lingual gyrus), and identification and cognition (e.g., the fusiform gyrus and entorhinal cortex). Such a relationship was only slightly attenuated after adjustment for cerebrovascular risk factors and cerebral small vessel disease. No statistically significant association was found between cortical thickness and the rhythm or variability domains. Conclusions: Poorer pace is independently associated with thinner cortical thickness in areas important for motor, sensory, cognitive function, and visuospatial attention. Our study emphasizes the importance of cortical thickness in gait control and adds value in investigating neural mechanisms of gait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• RELN rs7341475 (G/A) associated with brain structure in healthy young females. • G/G homozygotes showed larger gray matter volume than A-carriers. • The regions were the bilateral cingulate gyrus, the right temporal area, etc. • Temperament of novelty seeking correlated with volume in the right temporal area. Although temperament has been regarded as an innate aspect of human personality, its association with proteins involved in embryonic development is unclear. Reelin, encoded by RELN , plays an important role in brain development. Herein, we investigated the association between the RELN rs7341475 (G/A) single nucleotide polymorphism, detected as a female-specific risk factor for schizophrenia, brain structure, and temperament to elucidate the role of RELN in the development of human personality. In this study, 1580 healthy young Japanese adults were genotyped for RELN rs7341475 and completed the Temperament and Character Inventory. Whole-brain analysis of covariance was conducted to investigate differences between genotypes in regional gray matter volume (rGMV) and cortical morphology. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the association of four temperaments with rGMV. Those statistical analyses were performed separately for males and females. Individuals with G/G homozygosity showed significantly greater rGMV in several areas of the brain, particularly the bilateral cingulate and temporal gyrus, as well as a larger value of fractal dimension in the left lateral occipital cortex. Furthermore, of the four temperaments, the novelty seeking was significantly and positively associated with rGMV in the right superior temporal gyrus, partially overlapping with areas where differences between the rs7341475 genotypes were detected. The above findings were detected only in females, but not in males. This is the first study to demonstrate the contribution of RELN rs7341475 to differences in brain structure in Japanese females, which may indicate vulnerability to schizophrenia and variations in human personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Maternal depression during pregnancy has long-term impacts on offspring. This study used neuroimaging and behavioral data from children aged 4 to 6 years and investigated whether prenatal maternal depressive symptoms (pre-MDS) associated with child cortical morphological development and subsequent reward-related behaviors in preschoolers.Method: Pre-MDS was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 26 weeks of pregnancy. Children (n = 130) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at both 4 and 6 years of age. Child sensitivity to reward and punishment was reported by mothers when children were 6 years of age. Linear mixed-effect models examined pre-MDS associations with child cortical thickness and surface area. Mediation analysis examined whether cortical development mediated associations between pre-MDS and child sensitivity to reward and punishment.Results: The 3-way interactions of pre-MDS, age, and sex on cortical thickness and surface area were not statistically significant. We found a significant interaction of pre-MDS with sex on the cortical surface area but not on thickness or their growth from 4 to 6 years, adjusting for ethnicity, socioeconomic status, baseline age, and postnatal MDS as covariates. Higher pre-MDS scores were associated with larger surface areas in the prefrontal cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and superior parietal lobe (SPL) in boys, whereas the opposite pattern was seen in girls. The SPL surface area mediated the relationship between pre-MDS and sensitivity to reward in girls.Conclusion: Prenatal maternal depression alters the cortical morphology of pre-schoolers in a sex-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can be phenotypically divided into behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA), and semantic variant PPA (svPPA). However, the neural underpinnings of this phenotypic heterogeneity remain elusive., Methods: Cortical morphology, white matter hyperintensities (WMH), diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS), and their interrelationships were assessed in subtypes of FTD. Neuroimaging-transcriptional analyses on the regional cortical morphological deviances among subtypes were also performed., Results: Changes in cortical thickness, surface area, gyrification, WMH, and DTI-ALPS were subtype-specific in FTD. The three morphologic indices are related to whole-brain WMH volume and cognitive performance, while cortical thickness is related to DTI-ALPS. Neuroimaging-transcriptional analyses identified key biological pathways linked to the formation and/or spread of TDP-43/tau pathologies., Discussion: We found subtype-specific changes in cortical morphology, WMH, and glymphatic function in FTD. Our findings have the potential to contribute to the development of personalized predictions and treatment strategies for this disorder., Highlights: Cortical morphologic changes, white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and glymphatic dysfunction are subtype-specific. Cortical morphologic changes, WMH, and glymphatic dysfunction are inter-correlated. Cortical morphologic changes and WMH burden contribute to cognitive impairments., (© 2024 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Evidence from neuroimaging and genetic studies supports the concept that brain aging mirrors development. However, it is unclear whether mechanisms linking brain development and aging provide new insights to delay aging and potentially reverse it. This study determined biological mechanisms and phenotypic traits underpinning brain alterations across the lifespan and in aging by examining spatio-temporal correlations between gene expression and cortical volumes using datasets d with the age range from 2 to 82 years. We revealed that a large proportion of genes whose expression was associated with cortical volumes across the lifespan were in astrocytes. These genes, which showed up-regulation during development and down-regulation during aging, contributed to fundamental homeostatic functions of astrocytes. Included among these genes were those encoding components of cAMP, Ras, and retrograde endocannabinoid signaling pathways. Genes associated with cortical volumes in the same data aged above 55 years were also enriched for the sphingolipid, renin-angiotensin system (RAS), proteasome, and TGF-β signaling pathway, which is linked to senescence-associated secretory phenotypes. Neuroticism, drinking, and smoking were the common phenotypic traits in the lifespan and aging, while memory was the unique phenotype associated with aging. These findings provide biological mechanisms mirroring development and aging as well as unique to aging.

Aim: Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder associated with widespread brain morphological abnormalities. Here, we utilized a sulcal pits‐based method to provide new insight into the atypical cortical folding morphology in ADHD. Methods: Sulcal pits, the locally deepest points in each fold, were first extracted from magnetic resonance imaging data of 183 boys with ADHD (10.62 ± 1.96 years) and 167 age‐ and gender‐matched typically developing controls (10.70 ± 1.73 years). Then, the geometrical properties of sulcal pits were statistically compared between ADHD and controls. Results: Our results demonstrated that the number of sulcal pits was reduced and confined to the superficial secondary sulci in the ADHD group relative to controls (P <.05). We also found that ADHD boys were associated with significantly increased pit depth in the left superior frontal junction, circular insular sulcus, right inferior frontal junction, and bilateral cingulate sulcus, as well as significantly decreased pit depth in the bilateral orbital sulcus (P <.05, corrected). Conclusion: The experimental findings reveal atypical sulcal anatomy in boys with ADHD and support the feasibility of sulcal pits as anatomic landmarks for disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cortical morphological networks (CMN), where each network models the relationship in morphology between different cortical brain regions quantified using a specific measurement (e.g., cortical thickness), have not been investigated with respect to gender differences in the human brain. Cortical processes are expected to involve complex interactions between different brain regions, univariate methods thus might overlook informative gender markers. Hence, by leveraging machine learning techniques with the potential to highlight multivariate interacting effects, we found that the most discriminative CMN connections between males and females were derived from the left hemisphere using the mean sulcal depth as measurement. However, for both left and right hemispheres, the first most discriminative morphological connection revealed across all cortical attributes involved (entorhinal cortex ↔ caudal anterior cingulate cortex) and (entorhinal cortex ↔ transverse temporal cortex) respectively, which gives us new insights into behavioral gender differences from an omics perspective and might explain why males and females learn differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A receptor (5-HT2A) and dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3) have been extensively studied as promising candidate genes for schizophrenia. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have demonstrated that schizophrenia is associated with widespread structural and functional abnormalities in the brain. Serotonin and dopamine receptors play crucial roles in the development of the human cerebral cortex and brain activity. However, how the 5-HT2A and DRD3 genes impact brain structure and function in schizophrenia remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the main effect of disease state and the interaction effect between disease state and genotype of these two genes on cortical volume, thickness, surface area and functional connectivity density (FCD) in fifty-five drug-naïve first episode schizophrenia patients and fifty-three healthy controls. We found that the differences in local FCD (lFCD) and global FCD (gFCD) between patients and healthy controls were predominantly located in brain hub regions. The significant interaction effects of disease state and 5-HT2A and DRD3 genes on brain structure and function were mainly located in the temporal cortex. Our findings may help to improve the understanding of the relationship between 5-HT2A and DRD3 genotypes and schizophrenia pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The neural mechanism of amblyopia and its impact on the adult brain remain unclear. This hinders effective treatment for adults with this disease.Purpose: To investigate neuroanatomical differences in cortical morphometry between amblyopic adults and healthy controls, and to explore the structural covariance of abnormal morphometric changes.Study Type: Prospective.Population: Twenty-one amblyopic adults and 34 healthy controls.Field Strength/sequence: 3T MRI, T1 -weighted, MPRAGE sequence.Assessment: All participants completed ophthalmologic exams to confirm the diagnosis of amblyopia or its absence in the healthy controls, including tests of ocular motility and dilation, fundus exam, autorefraction and synoptophore tests. Cortical volume, thickness, and surface area measurements were obtained using FreeSurfer software.Statistical Tests: Statistical differences of MRI measures between amblyopic adults and healthy controls were identified using a general linear model with intracranial volume and age as covariates. Monte Carlo simulations were used to correct for multiple comparisons. The structural covariance of abnormal morphometric changes and the relationship between morphometric abnormalities and visual acuity of the amblyopic eye were examined.Results: Compared with healthy controls, amblyopic adults showed reduced cortical volume in left lateral occipital cortex, and decreased cortical thickness in bilateral inferior temporal gyrus and left precentral gyrus (P < 0.05; Monte Carlo corrected). Structural covariance between cortical volume of left lateral occipital cortex and cortical thickness of right inferior temporal gyrus in amblyopic adults was significantly less than in healthy controls (z = 1.73; P < 0.05).Data Conclusion: Our study identified morphological abnormalities in occipital cortex and in temporal and frontal cortex which are projection fields of visual cortex important for processing of visual form and object location information, and disrupted structural covariance of visual cortex with other brain regions in amblyopic patients.Level Of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1405-1412. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a weak electrical current to the cortex can have effects on a range of behaviours. Techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been widely used in both research and clinical settings. However, there is significant variability across individuals in terms of their responsiveness to stimulation, which poses practical challenges to the application of tDCS, but also provides a unique opportunity to study the link between the brain and behaviour. Here, we assessed the role of individual differences in cortical morphology – specifically in prefrontal cortical regions of interest – for determining the influence of tDCS on decision-making performance. Specifically, we employed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a previously replicated paradigm in which we modulated learning in a simple decision-making task by applying tDCS to the left prefrontal cortex in human subjects of both sexes. Cortical thickness of the left (but not right) prefrontal cortex accounted for almost 35% of the variance in stimulation efficacy across subjects. This is the first demonstration that variations in cortical architecture are associated with reliable differences in the effects of tDCS on cognition. Our findings have important implications for predicting the likely efficacy of different non-invasive brain stimulation treatments on a case by case basis. • tDCS shows promise as a tool in research and clinical settings. • However, there is significant variability between subjects in response to tDCS. • We assessed whether cortical morphology relates to stimulation outcomes. • Cortical thickness in left prefrontal cortex correlates with anodal tDCS efficacy. • We accounted for almost 35% of the variance between subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time course of neuroanatomical structural and functional measures across the lifespan is commonly reported in association with aging. Blood oxygen-level dependent signal variability, estimated using the standard deviation of the signal, or “BOLDSD,” is an emerging metric of variability in neural processing, and has been shown to be positively correlated with cognitive flexibility. Generally, BOLDSD is reported to decrease with aging, and is thought to reflect age-related cognitive decline. Additionally, it is well established that normative aging is associated with structural changes in brain regions, and that these predict functional decline in various cognitive domains. Nevertheless, the interaction between alterations in cortical morphology and BOLDSD changes has not been modeled quantitatively. The objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of cortical morphology metrics [i.e., cortical thickness (CT), gray matter (GM) volume, and cortical area (CA)] on age-related BOLDSD changes by treating these cortical morphology metrics as possible physiological confounds using linear mixed models. We studied these metrics in 28 healthy older subjects scanned twice at approximately 2.5 years interval. Results show that BOLDSD is confounded by cortical morphology metrics. Respectively, changes in CT but not GM volume nor CA, show a significant interaction with BOLDSD alterations. Our study highlights that CT changes should be considered when evaluating BOLDSD alternations in the lifespan.

Childhood speech and language deficits are highly prevalent and are a common feature of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, it is difficult to investigate the underlying causal pathways because many diagnostic groups have a heterogeneous aetiology. Studying disorders with a shared genetic cause and shared cognitive deficits can provide crucial insight into the cellular mechanisms and neural systems that give rise to those impairments. The current study investigated structural brain differences of individuals with mutations in ZDHHC9, which is associated with a specific neurodevelopmental phenotype including prominent speech and language impairments and intellectual disability. We used multiple structural neuroimaging methods to characterise neuroanatomy in this group, and observed bilateral reductions in cortical thickness in areas surrounding the temporo-parietal junction, parietal lobule, and inferior frontal lobe, and decreased microstructural integrity of cortical, subcortical-cortical, and interhemispheric white matter projections. These findings are compared to reports for other genetic groups and genetically heterogeneous disorders with a similar presentation. Overlap in the neuroanatomical phenotype suggests a common pathway that particularly affects the development of temporo-parietal and inferior frontal areas, and their connections.

The time course of neuroanatomical structural and functional measures across the lifespan is commonly reported in association with aging. Blood oxygen-level dependent signal variability, estimated using the standard deviation of the signal, or "BOLDSD," is an emerging metric of variability in neural processing, and has been shown to be positively correlated with cognitive flexibility. Generally, BOLDSD is reported to decrease with aging, and is thought to reflect age-related cognitive decline. Additionally, it is well established that normative aging is associated with structural changes in brain regions, and that these predict functional decline in various cognitive domains. Nevertheless, the interaction between alterations in cortical morphology and BOLDSD changes has not been modeled quantitatively. The objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of cortical morphology metrics [i.e., cortical thickness (CT), gray matter (GM) volume, and cortical area (CA)] on age-related BOLDSD changes by treating these cortical morphology metrics as possible physiological confounds using linear mixed models. We studied these metrics in 28 healthy older subjects scanned twice at approximately 2.5 years interval. Results show that BOLDSD is confounded by cortical morphology metrics. Respectively, changes in CT but not GM volume nor CA, show a significant interaction with BOLDSD alterations. Our study highlights that CT changes should be considered when evaluating BOLDSD alternations in the lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between cortical morphology, centrotemporal spike (CTS), and neuropsychological functioning in children with BECTS compared to their typically developing peers. Materials and methods: To examine whole‐brain differences in cortical thickness between groups, a general linear model approach was applied to T1‐weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children with BECTS and typically developing children. Further region‐of‐interest (ROI) analyses were performed to examine the effects of frequency and lateralization of CTS. In addition, the relationship between Processing Speed Index (PSI) and cortical thickness was investigated. Results: Twenty‐three patients with BECTS and thirty‐two controls were included. There was no statistically significant difference in global cortical thickness between groups. With ROI analyses, we found significantly thinner cortex within right pars opercularis when comparing children with right predominant CTS, and with very frequent right CTS (>10/min) to the control group (P = 0.028 and P = 0.026, respectively). A statistically significant interaction of group (controls vs BECTS) and PSI was seen in bilateral frontal and right superior parietal cortices, indicating a positive relationship between cortical thickness and PSI in healthy controls but not BECTS. Conclusion: A region of cortex where right CTS may originate was thinner in BECTS compared to children without BECTS. Typically developing children with faster processing speed had thicker cortices in regions supporting visuomotor integration, motor, and executive function, but this relationship was not observed in BECTS. These results suggest that BECTS is associated with atypical cortical morphology that may underlie poorer neuropsychological performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cortical morphology is known to differ with age, as measured by cortical thickness, fractal dimensionality, and gyrification. However, head motion during MRI scanning has been shown to influence estimates of cortical thickness as well as increase with age. Studies have also found task-related differences in head motion and relationships between body-mass index (BMI) and head motion. Here I replicated these prior findings, as well as several others, within a large, open-access dataset (Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience, CamCAN). This is a larger dataset than these results have been demonstrated previously, within a sample size of more than 600 adults across the adult lifespan. While replicating prior findings is important, demonstrating these key findings concurrently also provides an opportunity for additional related analyses: critically, I test for the influence of head motion on cortical fractal dimensionality and gyrification; effects were statistically significant in some cases, but small in magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring neuroanatomical sex differences using a multivariate statistical learning approach can yield insights that cannot be derived with univariate analysis. While gross differences in total brain volume are well-established, uncovering the more subtle, regional sex-related differences in neuroanatomy requires a multivariate approach that can accurately model spatial complexity as well as the interactions between neuroanatomical features. Here, we developed a multivariate statistical learning model using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to predict sex from MRI-derived regional neuroanatomical features from a single-site study of 967 healthy youth from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC). Then, we validated the multivariate model on an independent dataset of 682 healthy youth from the multi-site Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics (PING) cohort study. The trained model exhibited an 83% cross-validated prediction accuracy, and correctly predicted the sex of 77% of the subjects from the independent multi-site dataset. Results showed that cortical thickness of the middle occipital lobes and the angular gyri are major predictors of sex. Results also demonstrated the inferential benefits of going beyond classical regression approaches to capture the interactions among brain features in order to better characterize sex differences in male and female youths. We also identified specific cortical morphological measures and parcellation techniques, such as cortical thickness as derived from the Destrieux atlas, that are better able to discriminate between males and females in comparison to other brain atlases (Desikan-Killiany, Brodmann and subcortical atlases). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigated whether frontal lobe cortical morphology differs for boys and girls with ADHD (ages 8–12 years) in comparison to typically developing (TD) peers. Method: Participants included 226 children between the ages of 8–12 including 93 children with ADHD (29 girls) and 133 TD children (42 girls) for which 3T MPRAGE MRI scans were obtained. A fully automated frontal lobe atlas was used to generate functionally distinct frontal subdivisions, with surface area (SA) and cortical thickness (CT) assessed in each region. Analyses focused on overall diagnostic differences as well as examinations of the effect of diagnosis within boys and girls. Results: Girls, but not boys, with ADHD showed overall reductions in total prefrontal cortex (PFC) SA. Localization revealed that girls showed widely distributed reductions in the bilateral dorsolateral PFC, left inferior lateral PFC, right medial PFC, right orbitofrontal cortex, and left anterior cingulate; and boys showed reduced SA only in the right anterior cingulate and left medial PFC. In contrast, boys, but not girls, with ADHD showed overall reductions in total premotor cortex (PMC) SA. Further localization revealed that in boys, premotor reductions were observed in bilateral lateral PMC regions; and in girls reductions were observed in bilateral supplementary motor complex. In line with diagnostic group differences, PMC and PFC SAs were inversely correlated with symptom severity in both girls and boys with ADHD. Conclusions: These results elucidate sex-based differences in cortical morphology of functional subdivisions of the frontal lobe and provide additional evidence of associations among SA and symptom severity in children with ADHD.

There have been many neuroimaging studies of human personality traits, and it have already provided glimpse into the neurobiology of complex traits. And most of previous studies adopt voxel-based morphology (VBM) analysis to explore the brain-personality mechanism from two levels (vertex and regional based), the findings are mixed with great inconsistencies and the brain-personality relations are far from a full understanding. Here, we used a new method of surface-based morphology (SBM) analysis, which provides better alignment of cortical landmarks to generate about the associations between cortical morphology and the personality traits across 120 healthy individuals at both vertex and regional levels. While to further reveal local functional correlates of the morphology-personality relationships, we related surface-based functional homogeneity measures to the regions identified in the regional-based SBM correlation. Vertex-wise analysis revealed that people with high agreeableness exhibited larger areas in the left superior temporal gyrus. Based on regional parcellation we found that extroversion was negatively related with the volume of the left lateral occipito-temporal gyrus and agreeableness was negatively associated with the sulcus depth of the left superior parietal lobule. Moreover, increased regional homogeneity in the left lateral occipito-temporal gyrus is related to the scores of extroversion, and increased regional homogeneity in the left superior parietal lobule is related to the scores of agreeableness. These findings provide supporting evidence of a link between personality and brain structural mysteries with a method of SBM, and further suggest that local functional homogeneity of personality traits has neurobiological relevance that is likely based on anatomical substrates.

Because of volume conduction and inter-individual neuroanatomical variability, similar sources in different brains may lead to variable topographies. This represents a major limitation for sensor-space group level decomposition of electroencephalographic data, a technique which introduces potential biases when aggregating individual data. To which extent this impedes subsequent source separation and localization was quantified in the present study. To this end, several simulations using an atlas of human cerebral cortex that takes into account the variability of cortical morphology (Van Essen in NeuroImage 28:635-662, 2005) were performed. For each virtual subject (up to n = 160), the orientation and location of each single simulated dipole was randomly modified as a function of the variability of the cortical shape of a given point in the brain provided by the probabilistic atlas. The resulting activity was projected on the scalp, and topographical shifts were estimated. Then, different algorithms based on second order statistics (SOS) or higher order statistics were used to recover the simulated sources from sensor space information with group blind source separation (gBSS) procedures (based on UWSOBI or EFICA, respectively). As expected, the variability of orientation of the cortical surface across subjects was found to induce substantial variability in scalp potential maps, especially if the sources originate from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or the temporoparietal junction. These biases could be compensated for by increasing drastically the number of subjects included in the topographical analyses. By contrast, gBSS was found to be insensitive to inter-individual differences of neuroanatomy. Rather, the estimation of the spatial filters seems to be optimized for the population of interest. Thus, optimal performance of source separation and subsequent source localization did not require the inclusion of a large sample of subjects (n < 20), at least when applying SOS-based statistics that use source spectral diversity to identify and gather similar sources with variable location and orientation. The resulting conclusion that inter-individual neuroanatomical variability is not a major limitation to sensor-space gBSS methods provides boosting perspectives for this promising approach, especially for the detection and localization of task/population related neural sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DS) or velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) is a genetic condition that has been identified as the highest genetic risk factor for developing psychotic illnesses. This unique biological nature of 22q11DS provides a valuable opportunity to explore predictive biomarkers of psychosis. In this study, we examined the relationship of cortical thickness and surface area between various brain regions and prodromal symptoms of psychosis.Methods: 75 probands with 22q11DS, 32 age-matched controls and 28 siblings underwent MRIs over 2 or 3 timepoints. Longitudinal mixed model regression analyses, with age as an interaction variable, were carried out to study the differences in longitudinal trajectories of change in average cortical thickness and surface area over 6-9years. Similar analyses were carried out to examine the relationship with positive prodromal symptoms of psychosis.Results: Significant differences were noted in the inferior and superior parietal regions in both the average thickness and longitudinal change in cortical thickness with age between the probands and controls. Significant associations were also noted between regions in the frontal cortex and positive prodromal symptoms among probands. No associations were noted with cortical surface area.Conclusion: Our results indicate that individuals with 22q11DS who develop positive prodromal symptoms demonstrate differential longitudinal trajectories of cortical thickness in some regions of the frontal lobe. Our results suggest that the pruning stage associated with adolescent brain development may be disrupted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma exhibited a widespread reduction in cortical volume and cortical thickness at 1–3 months post-radiotherapy. • Radiation-related cortical atrophy was closely related to the ATPase Na+/K+ transporting alpha-1, alpha-3 polypeptide and respiratory electron transport chain. • Cortical morphology at the early stage post-radiotherapy may serve as an early biomarker to identify and predict radiation necrosis. To explore the effects of standard radiotherapy on cortical morphology and its potential transcriptional expression, and to determine the predictive power of cortical morphological measurement at the early stage for radiation necrosis (RN) occurrence within 3 years post-radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). 185 NPC patients participated. Pre-treatment and post-radiotherapy (1–3 months) structural MRI were collected longitudinally and prospectively. Multiple cortical morphological indices were compared between pre-treatment and post-radiotherapy. Brain-wide gene expression was used to assess the transcriptional profiles associated with radiation-induced cortical morphological changes. Machine learning was used to construct predictive models for RN with cortical morphological alterations at the early stage. Relative to pre-treatment, NPC patients exhibited a widespread reduction in cortical volume (CV) and cortical thickness (CT) post-radiotherapy (p < 0.001). Partial least squares regression analysis revealed that radiotherapy-related cortical atrophy was closely related to transcriptional profiles (p < 0.001), with the most correlated genes enriched in ATPase Na+/K+ transporting alpha-1 and alpha-3 polypeptide and respiratory electron transport chain. Furthermore, models constructed with cortical morphological features at 1–3 months post-radiotherapy had favorable predictive power for RN occurrence in NPC patients within 3-year follow-up, the area under the curve was 0.854 and 0.843 for CV and CT, respectively. NPC patients exhibited widespread cortical atrophy at 1–3 months post-radiotherapy, which was closely correlated with dysfunction of the ATPase Na+/K+ transporting alpha-1 and alpha-3 polypeptide and respiratory electron transport chain. Cortical morphology at 1–3 months post-radiotherapy may serve as an early biomarker for identifying RN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The pathophysiology of spasmodic dysphonia is poorly understood. This study evaluated patterns of cortical morphology, basal ganglia, and white matter microstructural alterations in patients with spasmodic dysphonia relative to healthy controls.Methods: T1-weighted and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained from 13 spasmodic dysphonia patients and 30 controls. Tract-based spatial statistics was applied to compare diffusion tensor MRI indices (i.e., mean, radial and axial diffusivities, and fractional anisotropy) between groups on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Cortical measures were analyzed using surface-based morphometry. Basal ganglia were segmented on T1-weighted images, and volumes and diffusion tensor MRI metrics of nuclei were measured.Results: Relative to controls, patients with spasmodic dysphonia showed increased cortical surface area of the primary somatosensory cortex bilaterally in a region consistent with the buccal sensory representation, as well as right primary motor cortex, left superior temporal, supramarginal and superior frontal gyri. A decreased cortical area was found in the rolandic operculum bilaterally, left superior/inferior parietal and lingual gyri, as well as in the right angular gyrus. Compared to controls, spasmodic dysphonia patients showed increased diffusivities and decreased fractional anisotropy of the corpus callosum and major white matter tracts, in the right hemisphere. Altered diffusion tensor MRI measures were found in the right caudate and putamen nuclei with no volumetric changes.Conclusions: Multi-level alterations in voice-controlling networks, that included regions devoted not only to sensorimotor integration, motor preparation and motor execution, but also processing of auditory and visual information during speech, might have a role in the pathophysiology of spasmodic dysphonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]